Combined, there are 10 members of the Hernando County Commission and the Hernando County School Board. Each panel has five members.
For almost two years, each board has discussed the possibility of redrawing the lines that form their geographic districts, which they are obliged to do at least once every decade. Every time the topic has been raised, the County Commission has sent its staff back to the drawing board.
Along the way, your elected representatives have hemmed and hawed and made excuses to put off the task. They've pointed fingers at each other and blamed the delays on everything from bad timing to bad moods, instead of just admitting they have been protecting their turf and, in some cases, the partisan interests of their respective political parties.
Now, just when it appeared there finally was a proposal that would satisfy both groups, two members of the School Board appear determined to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
At its meeting Tuesday, the County Commission unanimously approved a map that would reshuffle its five districts, ensuring that the population in each is approximately the same. Even though commissioners represent separate geographic districts, in Hernando County every registered voter casts a ballot in every race. At-large elections are the same for the non-partisan School Board members.
However, each board has adopted separate districts that correspond neither by geography nor numbered designation. The map the commission approved last week and sent to the School Board would make those districts uniform.
That answers a 2-year-old plea from Supervisor of Elections Annie Williams, who has advocated the change since shortly after she took office in 2000. Williams understands that aligning the districts not only would lessen confusion for voters, but also save her office money and effort because she would no longer have to maintain separate maps. It also would coincide with her plans to review voter precincts.
But only hours after the County Commission approved the new map, the School Board - namely members Sandra Nicholson and Jim Malcolm - balked at the proposal. During a workshop meeting of the board, they questioned the need for taking any action, and complained about how the County Commission was presumptuous to expect their concurrence.
If this duo can persuade one of their colleagues to join them in their misguided objections, the reapportionment likely will be delayed until 2005, because state law forbids making such changes during even-numbered election years.
This process could have been done in 2001, but both boards dragged their feet. At the time they were procrastinating, they pledged to make it right in 2003. That time has arrived, and still they are making excuses.
Voters shouldn't have to wait any longer for such a reasonable and simple change. Members of both boards should be willing to accept the supervisor of elections' assertion that this move is in the best interest of residents. Malcolm and Nicholson should come around to that way of thinking, and stop putting their political interests above those of their constituents. If they do not, voters should demand an explanation.
